


There are worse things in life than kissing boys

by Noxnoctisanima



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Homophobia, Homophobic Language, M/M, Outing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 10:03:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16427282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noxnoctisanima/pseuds/Noxnoctisanima
Summary: If Boston is going to create this version of him to justify trading him then Tyler is going to tell the truth about why Boston doesn't want to keep their new rising star. If they think it's better to be seen trading an immature party boy rather than a gay player, well they can all go to hell.





	There are worse things in life than kissing boys

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Hockey Big Bang and accompanied by a mix by the wonderful Somehowunbroken. 
> 
>  
> 
> [ Mix](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4IA35osDGR1Jqa12KvcMTq)

The phone call woke Tyler up. He stumbled, reaching for his phone. At first, he knocked it off the bedside table, he'd apparently left it on the edge when he went to sleep. Once he finally picked it up he mumbled into the receiver. 

 

“Hello?” It wasn't until he heard Chris's voice that he fully woke up.

 

“Tyler.” 

 

“What’s up?.. shit... let me... give me a sec.” Tyler swung his legs out of bed and glanced at his phone as his head swam.

 

“It's early Chris.” He knew that they had stuff to do in a few hours. Chris was usually pretty reasonable about this kind of thing, especially the day after the fourth of July. 

 

“Tyler,” Chris said. His voice was trying for calm but to Tyler, it sounded more controlled. 

 

“Do you remember Tweeting last night?” And no, Tyler remembered approximately nothing from last night. He'd been dealing with the trade by getting completely blackout drunk. 

 

“No.” He said to Chris. “What did it say?”

 

“Only queers and steers in Texas and I'm not a cow.” Tyler rubbed his forehead with his hand, no wonder Chris was calling him at ass o’clock.

 

“Fuck. Is it playing as homophobic?” One of the last things Tyler wanted to do was try to explain that he wasn’t homophobic while dancing around his own secret.

 

“No, it’s not.” Tyler could hear in Chris’s voice that he shouldn’t be relieved yet, and then Chris said it. “Someone heard a rumour.” Tyler’s grip on his phone weakened for a moment and he nearly dropped it. “Some muckraking reporter from Puck Daddy heard someone say something sometime. It's speculation but it's not the kind of speculation that's going away. It’s out there Tyler.” 

 

Tyler was twenty-one. He was a professional athlete. This didn't happen to him. Not now. 

 

He ran his hand through his hair. 

 

“What do I do?” He asked Chris.

 

“I know we’ve had the coming out conversation before Tyler, and I know you never wanted to do this but this isn’t the kind of speculation that just goes away, it’s the kind that brings out every one of those guys who you think didn’t recognise you.” He paused. “And we both know that we can’t pay them all off like the last one.” 

 

Tyler didn’t even answer, he set his head between his hands and let his long breath do it for him.  

 

The stupid mistakes everyone else got to make when they were eighteen were the kind of things Tyler never got to forget. He supposed he just had to be thankful that the asshole had been so professional about it, had sent a demand to Chris rather than leaking the pictures to the media. He’d paid a crazy amount of money for the pictures to go away and stay away and he’d fucked it up now with one stupid tweet. 

 

“Do we know who talked to the reporter? Was it someone from the team?” 

 

Chris paused for an uncomfortable moment. “We won’t ever be able to be sure…” 

 

“But you think it’s likely,” Tyler replied carefully neutral. 

  
  
  


Tyler hadn't expected the trade. You aren't supposed to trade your next big thing. Tyler had gone second overall, he’d signed his contract, he’d won a cup, he’d led the scoring, he was supposed to be their next big thing. He hadn’t expected any of it. The problem was that he probably should have. 

 

It hadn’t been a special night, there was nothing unusual about it. He hadn't made out with anyone in public, he hadn't done anything stupid. He’d just discreetly picked up.

Even now he didn't know who told management, but he felt the change immediately.

 

Suddenly, he was trouble, he didn't fit their culture. Maybe he shouldn't have been surprised but he was new and convinced that his skill could overcome their homophobia. It really sucked to realise that who he put his dick in was more important to them than how he played his hockey.

 

And as a parting shot, someone had taken the opportunity to make sure he got the same treatment in his new team now the trade had been finalised and they couldn’t give him back. 

 

His head was still chasing the realisation that unless Chris was very wrong he was going to be out in the next few days. He’d expected to feel terrified or humiliated but instead, he was settling in at furious. 

 

“Assholes.” His voice wasn’t loud but Tyler could feel his lip curl around the word, he could almost see Chris sitting up straighter in response. “Being out is going to fucking suck.” He paused, his mind still working through what he was feeling. “I shouldn’t have to deal with this and part of it is because management are assholes.” 

  
  


Chris paused for a long careful moment. 

 

“There’s no legal recourse Tyler if that’s what you want, they had every right to trade you and it’d be hard to find a judge that would uphold a harassment complaint.” This is why Tyler loved Chris, but this time he wasn’t thinking far enough. 

 

“Nah, I don’t want a payout or some bullshit apology, fuck a judge, I want to tell the media.” 

 

Chris was silent. Tyler assumed he was thinking and went on. 

 

“They want to make me some other team’s problem? Well, let’s see how they feel when they’re the homophobic team who chased a promising young player out of town. If I have to be out I want to tell the real story.”

 

“Are you really sure you want to pick this fight Tyler? This could damage your future prospects in a trade or free agency.”   

 

Tyler scoffed. “Like everyone knowing I like the D is going to make it really easy.” 

 

Chris made a noncommittal noise. “Look Tyler, we’re not going to make any actual choices right now. Think about it a bit more, call your family, I’ll talk to you again in a few hours.” He paused just before hanging up. “Don’t talk to any reporters before you talk to me again and for godsakes delete that fucking tweet.”   

  
  
  


Tyler had never been great at identifying tone in writing but Sean Conboy’s glee was palpable in his emails. Chris was worth every cent, once he was sure Tyler was serious he’d jumped straight into making Tyler’s coming out the best managed in history. 

 

And that all started with the Players’ Tribune. 

 

The first email he’d had back from the managing editor had been cautious, he had obviously heard the rumours and being the outlet for the obviously closeted player to deny his sexuality wasn’t particularly appealing. It had been a one-eighty when he realised that what he was getting instead was the coming out and more besides. His emails had come back quicker and quicker as Tyler dropped more and more of the story he would be getting. 

 

His emails marched down his inbox, read, unread, unread, unread, read, unread, unread. For every one he got from Sean he had another two from the Stars PR people. He knew he needed to answer them soon but Chris and he both agreed, better to give them the coming out as a done deal than having them try to take control. 

  
  
  


He and Chris may have miscalculated how worried Stars management were though. He was not expecting to open his door at ten o’clock in the morning and find Jim Nill standing on his doorstep. 

 

“Tyler, may I come in?” 

 

“Of course,” Tyler said, standing back from the door and cursing internally. 

 

He managed to waste a few minutes offering a seat and drink but eventually, Jim placed his sweating glass of water down on the coffee table and clasped his hands together. 

 

“I’m sorry to come unannounced like this Tyler but we have been concerned about being unable to get into contact with you since the trade was announced.” 

 

There were only so many ways Tyler could answer that. Now that he’d reached the point of management sitting in his living room he figured the time for caution was over and went for complete honesty. He put his own glass down on the table and straightened up. 

 

“To be completely honest Jim I was avoiding your calls.” He didn’t give Jim a chance to open his mouth and continued. “But not because I was upset about the trade.” He shrugged. “Well, yeah, I was pissed about the trade but not because it was to Dallas.” 

 

“Why have you been avoiding…” Jim started but Tyler cut him off, jittery. 

 

“I know you’ve heard the rumours.” He said flatly. Jim nodded almost unconsciously.

 

“That is one of the reasons we had been trying so urgently to get in contact with you, to ask you about them and where you want to go from a PR standpoint.” It all sounded so sensible and careful. Tyler’s nails bit into his palms.

 

“They’re true. I just returned the final draft of a Players’ Tribune article.” 

 

Jim blinked twice and made the correct connection. 

 

“You’re coming out publicly, and you wanted to give that to us fait accompli.” Jim was a bastard to read and Tyler had absolutely no idea what he was thinking.  

 

“Yes, it was more than that though.” He paused but Jim was just listening politely, face still unreadable. “What did Chiarelli tell you was the reason they were trading me?” 

 

Jim sat back in his chair, obviously deciding to let the conversation go wherever Tyler was directing it, even if the question seemed a little off track. 

 

“That you were part of a push to shed some money before your contract kicked in and Dallas could afford that more than they could.” He paused, obviously thinking about how to word the next statement. “Also, that a smaller city might be a better location for you due to some off ice issues.” 

 

Tyler laughed a little bitterly. “And no one mentioned that I only had ‘off ice’ issues after someone spotted a man leaving my hotel room.” 

 

Jim was looking interested now. 

 

“You think they knew?” 

 

“One hundred percent. We’re also pretty sure they’re the reason those rumours were even there for you to hear.” Tyler pulled a face and sat forward, his patience for sensible, serious talk was wearing really thin. “I confirm in the article that I’m gay,” he was getting better at saying that out loud, “but what I’m really about to do is seriously piss off Bruins management and probably a lot of league management when I call them out for,” he lifted his hands to make quotation marks, “The homophobia I have faced as part of their organisation.”

 

He shrugged again and looked at Jim. “I wanted to keep you out of it.” He stopped and then decided to be honest about what they both knew was another reason. “And keep you from interfering. Keeping you out of it was a big reason though, you’re already going to have a gay player in Texas, not exactly welcoming territory.”

 

Jim was still just watching him and Tyler was having trouble shutting up now that he was talking about it. 

 

“The article will go up in two days and then we’ll see what the fallout is, the rumours are still pretty contained, although a reporter from the Globe called my agent this morning so someone mainstream may have finally picked it up.”

 

Jim was just watching him now, obviously considering his response. 

 

“There’s no changing your mind.” It obviously wasn’t a question. 

 

“No, and even if there was there’s enough information that someone would ask me the question soon and I’d rather get there first.” There was a long pause as Jim nodded thoughtfully to himself. 

 

“Okay then. You’re going to hate the sight of our PR staff pretty soon I think.” 

 

Tyler blinked, thrown off. 

 

“That’s it?”

 

Jim sat back. “Tyler, the reasons we traded for you are still there. Would we have traded for you if we’d known this?” He shrugged. “Maybe not, but you’re here now and you know exactly what the optics would be if we traded you again.” He tried a smile. “It’s actually preferable to what we thought I might come up here and find.” 

 

Tyler frowned at him and Jim quirked a more wry smile. 

 

“I’d rather be dealing with a gay player than an alcoholic one, especially seeing as you’ve obviously decided to be a role model about it.” He stood up from his chair and Tyler stood quickly after him. He offered his hand and Tyler shook it. 

 

“I’ll be expecting you to have your phone on from now on and I’ll be giving the PR staff your number, they’ll organise your flights down to Dallas. Probably tomorrow. We’ll do the press stuff with the new jersey sometime this week.” 

 

Tyler shook his hand again, showed him to the door and then sat on the couch. 

 

So, that had just happened. 

  
  
  
  


**_Goodbye Boston_ **

 

_ I remember the feeling of lifting the cup. It was incredible, lighter than I could imagine, even with exhausted arms. I didn’t quite appreciate it then, not like I should have.  _

 

_ I was barely in the league, I hadn’t spent years waiting for this pinnacle like some of those I played with, those big, strong men who had tears on their face in the dressing room.  _

 

_ I thought it was going to happen every year.  _

 

_ I thought I was going to be a major part of it every year.  _

 

_ I didn’t appreciate it like I should have.  _

 

_ I didn’t expect that just over two years later I would be unceremoniously leaving town under a cloud of speculation about how I was a party animal who had a security guard posted outside his room to stop him from going out drinking.  _

 

_ I’m 20 years old. I go out. I party. But that’s not why the Bruins traded me.  _

 

_ It wasn’t even because of Boston’s centre depth and the realities of the salary cap. Boston could have kept me. They made a choice.  _

 

_ I can already hear the comments on this. “Why are you whining? Players get traded every day.”  _

 

_ Trades happen. We all know that. But most trades aren’t accompanied by months of character assassination to justify them.  _

 

_ And for me, this character assassination had a reason. _

 

_ It had a start date.  _

 

_ It started one evening when someone saw a man leave my hotel room and came to the right conclusion.  _

 

_ I had bought into my own hype. I was second overall. I had thought that my sexuality wouldn’t matter if I played well. The Bruins organisation went out of their way to show me how wrong that assumption was.  _

 

_ I’m a gay man playing hockey. I’m the first gay man (that we know of) to have his name on the Stanley Cup. And Boston chose to tear me down and then trade me. It was deliberate, it was planned and it was homophobic. _

 

_ This isn’t the end of my story. I’m excited to be a Star and to see where the season takes me. I’m not writing this to shame Boston into taking me back. I’m writing this because they had the chance to tell their side of the story.  _

 

_ This is mine.  _

  
  
  
  


“Well, that was some article Tyler.” 

 

“I know wifey, I wrote it.” Tyler sighed. Brownie laughed at him.

 

“Bullshit, you wrote exactly none of this article Tyler, there's too many big words. “

 

“Go fuck yourself.”

 

Brownie cackled. 

 

“You burnt some impressive fucking bridges though. You ready for this?”

 

Tyler shrugged unhelpfully and then finally answered. 

 

“I'm calling you from a landline because Chris took my cell and said he'd give it back when my calls stopped being full of assholes. I still don't have my phone.”

 

“Well played.” He paused for a long moment. “You seen Twitter?” 

 

Tyler took a deep breath. “Should I?”

 

“I’d probably give it a few weeks…” 

 

“Well good thing the Stars PR took away my account.” 

 

“They being dicks about it?” He asked, voice a little cold. Tyler fucking loved this guy.

 

“Nah, just careful. I think they took a look at my mentions before they made me go inactive.” He paused, then changed the topic. “You getting any assholes from the ‘wifey’ thing?”

 

He could hear the shrug. “A couple, but Laura has been showing up on facebook a lot lately and I think they just kind of gave up.” He laughed. “I’m waiting to see if Deadspin has the guts.” 

 

“You ready to deny our epic love?” Tyler grinned at the phone. 

 

“I’m ready to see whether they think their readers know what a bisexual is or whether they just decide Laura is a beard.” 

 

“Twenty on beard.” Brownie laughed until he couldn’t breathe. This was just the conversation Tyler had needed. 

 

“I’ve got to go but you still have my private email right?”

 

“Yeah.” 

 

“Use that, I’ll email you my new number once I get one.” 

 

“Alright, knock ‘em dead wifey, I’ll punch a Bruin for you.” He hung up. 

  
  


**_Bruins Management Reacts to Seguin Accusations_ **

  
  


_ The Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli and President Cam Neely faced the media today to respond to the explosive claims of harassment and homophobia made by ex-Bruin Tyler Seguin.  _

 

_ The now Dallas Star, Seguin, responded to his trade last week with a scathing article in the Players’ Tribune, alleging a smear campaign undertaken by top management after they discovered his sexuality.  _

 

_ “Those accusations are completely false and slanderous. The Bruins organisation completely rejects his claims and we will vigorously defend our reputation.” Chiarelli started as he read from a prepared statement during today’s press conference.  _

 

_ Bruins management did not take questions.    _

  
  
  
  


His new captain was so new he hadn’t had all the plastic taken off yet. Tyler’s first impression was of really terrible hair gel. He managed to make himself seem unimposing and boring which was impressive given his height and shoulders. His name was Jamie Benn and Tyler vaguely remembered him from the All Star Game and he’d looked even less imposing back then, which he supposed at least showed improvement. He’d looked good in game tape but otherwise, he seemed pretty unmemorable. He’d stepped forward after Ruff, shaken his hand, mumbled something and then disappeared back into the wallpaper. 

 

Tyler couldn’t decide whether it was homophobia or just plain people phobia. 

 

He wondered who the hell decided to inflict this guy on the media every night. 

 

That had apparently been it for the official meet and greet because afterward Tyler was set loose with the phone number of a realtor and a less than subtle reminder to avoid the internet. He floated a bit awkwardly in the corridor before he dug out his phone to call an Uber. 

 

“You look lost.” Tyler turned, a little startled. The guy was obviously a player and Tyler probably even knew his face but that was about it. “I’m Jordie. I think you just met my brother.” 

 

Now Tyler remembered, this was the other Benn. They’d made jokes about them in the same kind of vein they used to about the Staals. He offered his hand. 

 

“Tyler.” He grasped it without hesitation, and Tyler was already getting sick of seeing that as a good sign. 

 

“Don’t mind Jamie, it’s not you, he’s functionally incapable of not being awkward in social situations.”

 

“And they made him captain?” Tyler’s mouth was so much quicker than his brain sometimes, he winced a little. Jordie laughed.

 

“Wait ‘til you see him with skates on, it makes more sense then but yeah, I don’t think the PR staff quite know what they’re getting themselves in for.” He considered Tyler for a moment. “What are you doing after this?” 

 

“Getting some lunch, calling the realtor they gave me. Where do people even live in Dallas?” 

 

“It depends. There’s some areas closer to bars and clubs and restaurants or some more suburban areas.” He shrugged. “Depends on what you’re looking for.” 

 

“I don’t think I’m ready to go full suburban yet but I think the PR staff would murder me if I moved into a party house.” Tyler grinned. “One drunken self-outing and no one trusts you anymore.” Jordie barked a laugh. 

 

“Our building’s pretty nice.” He spotted Tyler’s frown at the ‘our’. “I share an apartment with Jamie.” Tyler’s mouth twitched. 

 

“You sure your name’s Benn and not…” 

 

“Fuck off,” Jordie said, smiling. “I’ve been up and down, it isn’t worth getting my own place until I have a guaranteed roster spot.” 

 

“It’s not a bad excuse…” Tyler grinned at him, teasingly. Jordie swatted at him. 

 

“God, you’re such an asshole, Jamie is going to love you.” 

 

Tyler made a face at him. 

 

“Awkward in large groups, shitty at meeting people, but the world’s biggest troll. You two will get on great once you’ve met properly.” He looked at Tyler appraisingly. “Speaking of, what are you doing for lunch?” 

 

Tyler shrugged. “Probably ordering room service.” 

 

“Come on then,” Jordie said and made for the door. 

 

Tyler began following him automatically then stopped. “What?” 

 

“I’ve got diet plan approved sandwich fixings and a functional kitchen. Come get to know your new captain in his natural habitat.” 

 

“Right, sure.” Tyler managed and followed along, feeling like he’d lost control of the situation somewhere there. 

 

He’d taken an Uber to the rink so it seemed natural to climb in Jordie’s truck next to him. 

 

“Not sharing a ride with your brother?” He asked slyly as they pulled away. 

 

“Again, fuck you. He had some more meetings. I just came to see the medical staff, I pulled a muscle training the other day and they’re being cautious.” 

 

“A sprain?” Tyler asked, eyebrow raised. 

 

Jordie huffed at him. “Wait another five years and see how well your body deals with muscle sprains.” 

 

Tyler held up his hands in surrender and turned to fiddle with the radio. Jordie smacked at his hands. 

 

“Don’t you know how rude it is to go around changing someone’s radio stations?” 

 

“Don’t you know how rude it is to force someone to listen to ‘sounds to fuck your sister by’?” Tyler replied. Jordie laughed. 

 

“Welcome to Texas. Try the next preset, it’s Jamie’s.” Tyler pushed it, curious now. It was either going to be classic rock or the sappiest of pop. He was pretty relieved to hear Springsteen. 

  
  
  


Jordie nodded at the doorman on the way in then turned to Tyler. “You’ll have to check with the building manager but Robert was telling me yesterday that an apartment the floor beneath ours is vacant.” 

 

Tyler felt thoughtful. “I might check it out.” He paused and grinned at Jordie. “Sure you want me for a neighbour? What if I blast music all night and day?” 

 

“I’ve got earplugs.” 

  
  
  


Jordie let Tyler cut half of a tomato before declaring him “Fucking useless” and sending him to sit at the kitchen bench. 

 

“Have you never used a knife before?” He eyed Tyler suspiciously. “Am I going to end up feeding you to stop you living on takeout?” 

 

Tyler smiled winningly at him until he handed over the sandwich and led the way to the couch. He flicked on a baseball game and that’s where Jamie found them two hours later. 

 

Tyler had been half dozing and he jerked in his seat as the door clattered open and two shoes thumped as they hit the hallway wall. 

 

“Fucking media, I could kill Jim for making me captain. Meet and greets with new players and then smiling for the fucking cameras.” 

 

Tyler’s first thought was ‘oh, there’s the reason he’s captain’ followed shortly by his more base thought of ‘that’s fucking attractive’. 

 

Jamie made even more noise as he stomped into the kitchen and bitched about the media and how unfair it was that Jordie got to come back here and hide.

 

“You didn’t even make me a sandwich, asshole.” 

 

He stomped some more into the living room while Jordie made amused eye contact with Tyler. Tyler couldn’t see him yet but he could tell when Jamie spotted him; the stomping stopped abruptly enough to be called a stumble and so did his bitching. 

 

“Hi…” Even his voice was different and Tyler swivelled in his chair to stare at him. 

 

“Hey bro. Sweet setup you’ve got here.”

 

“Ah, thanks.” He hovered awkwardly until Jordie yelled at him. 

 

“For Christ sake, he’s not gonna eat you Chubbs, sit the fuck down and watch the game with us.” 

 

Tyler had never seen someone look so uncomfortable sitting on a couch before but he figured his continued attention probably wasn’t helping and turned back to the game. 

 

It wasn’t long before he turned back to Jamie but this time wasn’t for his stuttered awkwardness, he’d started muttering angrily at the TV and was turning red. He could also see Jordie’s eyes flick to him and the sly smile on his lips. 

 

“He stole that fair and square! Umps are useless!” Tyler watched as Jamie failed to control his reaction and shouted at the screen. “If that was a foul I’ll eat my fucking hat!” 

 

Jordie got his attention and jerked his chin at Jamie. “He went fifth round because he couldn’t decide between hockey and baseball.”

 

“He’s certainly passionate,” Tyler whispered back.

  
  
  


**_What next for Tyler Seguin and the Dallas Stars?_ **

 

_ There was a lot of hope on July fourth when the trade that would bring Tyler Seguin to Dallas was announced. A talented young centre with the potential to become a top ten forward in the league was a coup. Then a week later came the shocking revelation, Tyler Seguin had come out in the Players’ Tribune.  _

 

_ Dallas was suddenly faced with their exciting new prospect turning sour overnight. Seguin was brought in to bring stability to the Stars’ first line, to centre newly appointed captain Jamie Benn. Instead, the Stars now have a liability. There’s never been a gay man in an NHL locker room, and for good reason.  _

 

_ The left-wing media have found their new darling in Seguin. He is young, outspoken and playing a professional men’s sport. They have been viciously attacking the Bruins management based on nothing more than the statements of an embittered former player. But they have never been in a locker room. They don’t understand the disruption this will cause to a team still fighting to rebuild.  _

 

_ Dallas is in a difficult position, play Seguin and risk alienating the rest of the team, sit a player earning $5.75 million or trade Seguin knowing that his trade value is at an all-time low and be attacked by the left for doing so.  _

 

_ Seguin has placed Dallas in an impossible situation and we can only wait to see what happens next.   _

  
  
  


When they got on the ice together Tyler couldn’t understand how he hadn’t remembered Jamie’s play, if not his personality. The man was a beast and Western conference or not, Tyler should have remembered that. 

 

So, Tyler wasn’t tiny or anything and technically Jamie was only a little taller and a little heavier. That meant exactly nothing once they were on the ice. Jamie hit like he was 200 pounds and his opponent had personally offended him. 

 

He was friendly with Tyler but focused. Which was still an improvement on what he had feared when he first got on the plane. 

 

He looked around the ice, not a single familiar face with Rich still recovering from surgery and everyone else still basically strangers. Jordie was friendly, but he was back down the ice with the other D-men. 

 

No one seemed to be ignoring him but no one had exactly gone out of their way to introduce themselves and make friends. 

 

He backhanded a puck down the ice at Lehtonen and turned to join back into the line waiting for the drill. The others were still warming up but Tyler had been on the ice for nearly an hour now, he’d decided that he didn’t want the first time he met his new teammates to be while they worried whether he was looking at their dicks while they were changing. 

 

“You, I think I should know.” He almost missed the French-accented voice behind him, not expecting someone to start a conversation. He turned and the man held out his hand. “I am Antoine.” 

 

“Tyler.” He replied and shook. 

 

“I make my place on team getting under skin of other players, but I think you will do this better this season.” He gave Tyler an infectious grin. “I should stay close to you so I may fight the ones brave enough to try.” He eyed Tyler speculatively. “I do not think you are a fighter.” 

 

Tyler stared at him for a moment, not sure whether to be insulted by that; on one hand Antoine was right, he was not built for punching people in the face, he was built for speed; on the other hand, fuck him for thinking Tyler couldn’t handle himself. 

 

“You going to be my bodyguard then?” He replied, maybe a little snidely. 

 

“No, you be my source for good irritation and fights.” He grinned, laughed again and hit Tyler with his stick. “Your turn again.” Tyler frowned at the abrupt turn of conversation but then realised that the line before him had disappeared and turned back to the drill. 

  
  
  


Jordie nailed him with a towel as Tyler finished peeling off his under armour for a shower. He’d left it late on purpose but there were still a few guys in the room. 

 

He flinched. “Asshole.” 

 

Jordie laughed in his face. “You can tell you don’t have any brothers.” He turned the shower on one over from Tyler, casually putting himself between him and the rest of the room. 

 

“It was a good first practice. Looked like you did well from my end.” 

 

“Yes, dad.” Tyler chirped back at him, relaxing. 

 

“You coming for dinner?” Jordie asked, ignoring him. Tyler wavered, he probably shouldn’t invade the Benn’s two nights in a row. Jordie just huffed at him. “You’ll just eat takeaway alone in your hotel room. I’ll text you the address for your GPS.” He ducked his head under the water to wet his hair and that appeared to be the end of the conversation.

  
  
  


Tyler wasn’t expecting it to become a habit but three weeks later he was still sitting at the Benn’s kitchen bench and watching Jordie cook for him. Jamie had stopped stumbling when he noticed Tyler was there. He was still awkward as fuck though and Tyler was finding it harder to believe Jordie when he told him it was just Jamie. 

 

It wasn’t as if Jordie and Tyler were hanging out and Jamie was third-wheeling awkwardly, it wasn’t even as if Tyler and Jamie hadn’t been hanging out, it was just that there was always a little awkwardness from him that Tyler was becoming distressingly good at noticing. 

  
  


“Are you sure he doesn’t mind me being here?” Tyler asked Jordie quietly. Tyler was shit at being unsure. He usually dealt with things by going balls to the wall and finding out the consequences later. Jamie was hard though. He was friendly and everything but Tyler could always tell that he was uncomfortable. He figured Jordie was sick of him asking but there was no good way to ask ‘Is your brother uncomfortable having me over because he’s worried I want his dick?’ Tyler hadn’t been out long enough to know how to ask someone if his gayness was a problem. 

 

Jordie threw him the bitchy side eye that was becoming common for him. Least helpful person. 

 

The problem for Tyler was that it was completely possible that Jamie had noticed Tyler looking, because he had been. He was uncomfortably out, not blind, and Jamie had some fantastic shoulders and a decent personality when he wasn’t stumbling over his words.

  
  
  


Tyler kicked his shoes off in the stand at the front door of the apartment and half-heartedly shoved them into the shoe rack one of the Benns had put there, no amount of Texas could take the good Canadian boy out of them. He wandered down the hallway, calling out to where he could hear the TV in the living room. 

 

“Jordie, you got lunch for me in there?” 

 

“He’s still at the rink, he wanted to fuck around with his skates a bit,” Jamie called back. Tyler shrugged and kicked Jamie’s feet from the couch and sat down at the other end. They hadn’t actually spent a lot of time alone together, usually, Jordie was around somewhere. He looked to the TV, baseball highlights. 

 

“You are a cliche, you know that?” He told Jamie as he kicked his feet up onto the coffee table. It was an already longstanding conversation before Tyler joined it, Jordie’s mocking of his brother’s lack of interests outside of sports.

 

Jamie scoffed at him, he took the bait every time. “Remind me of your interests outside sport?”

 

“Fishing, dogs, travel, dick,” Tyler added the last with a little pause and a grin. He expected Jamie to snipe back, to laugh, but he stiffened visibly and replied stiffly.

 

“Fishing is a sport.” 

 

Tyler let all the reasons Jamie could have stiffened wash over him and let himself instead fall into a pointless argument about whether fishing is actually a sport until Jordie got home to feed them. 

  
  
  


“You’re looking good on the ice,” Jamie said out of nowhere a few days into the season. They were sitting on Jamie’s uncomfortable fucking couch that Tyler just knew Jamie picked out from a website, more for the fact that it was leather and looked like it was comfortable than if it actually was. Tyler hummed. 

 

He’d come out of the first two preseason games with three points which wasn’t a bad start. That said, he’d also nearly come out of the second preseason game with a broken collarbone when he managed to look up just at the last moment to dodge some giant Florida AHLer. No one was pushing anything too far thank Christ, not with the refs covering their asses rather than have someone call them bigots but there was only so much they could do to an AHL asshole dying to make the show. Apart from the Florida goon everyone else was just hitting a little harder and calling him every version of ‘cocksucker’ they could come up with. 

 

“The apartment downstairs is empty,” Jordie said after he had let the conversation lapse for a while. Tyler hummed again, he knew this, he’d probably known it before Jordie had. He’d become well acquainted with Robert the doorman with the amount of time he had been spending at the Benn’s lately. 

 

“I sign the lease after practice tomorrow.” Jordie grinned at him. Jamie sat up a little. 

 

“Need any help moving? We can make a few rookies help. They can make themselves useful for once.”

 

Tyler snorted. 

 

“As if I would ever let them near my stuff, what they didn’t break they’d fuck up somehow. I have movers.” He slid further down into the couch. “You better not stop cooking for me though, I’ll just end up eating takeout in my apartment alone and I know you worry.” 

 

“Mooch.” 

  
  
  


The ice was...okay... there hadn’t been quite as many assholes as Tyler had worried about but it hadn’t exactly been a bed of roses either. Some of the shit he was getting was actual homophobia but a lot of it was just being visible and having a good button to push. It sucked, but being a smaller guy on the ice people had been calling Tyler a cocksucker for years, now they just had proof. 

 

The dude from Florida hadn’t been the only one to take things too far. Rous gleefully punched a Duck in the face and then gave Tyler a high five. Tyler had made his peace with it. Rous liked punching people and Tyler could accept that he was punching them for him. 

 

Mike Fisher turned out to be one of the assholes, though he was a good enough player not to spend his time making runs at Tyler like the Panthers call up had and instead just hissed nasty shit at the faceoff dot. It was all the same stuff Tyler had heard before. 

 

“You’re going to hell fag.” Tyler did enjoy when they brought religion into it too. He was getting increasingly good at ignoring it, it helped that they all kept repeating themselves, ‘fag’ stopped sounding like a word after the first hundred times. He’d also found that the angrier they were the more likely they were to miss the faceoff, so wins all around. 

 

He grinned pleasantly back at Fisher and blew him a kiss before winning the draw and taking off towards Rinne. He got stripped halfway up the ice but as he turned to chase the puck back down the ice he saw Fisher gingerly making his way to the bench and Jamie skating calmly away. 

 

He checked the tape later that night. Jamie had made sure it was a legal hit, but he’d also made sure to make Fisher feel it and had held him there for a second, grinning maliciously. 

 

Tyler let the satisfied feeling take him the whole way home. 

  
  
  


“Thanks for the stuff with Fisher,” Tyler said after he had turned up the next morning and whined at Jordie until he fed him. Jamie and he were now sacked out on the couch after cleaning up, very half-assedly watching NFL highlights. 

 

Jamie didn’t look at him. “Not a big deal.”

 

“Kind of a big deal.” Tyler settled for looking at the side of his head. “Not so many people stick up for me now.” 

 

“I stick up for my team.” Jamie sat stiffly on the couch.

 

“A lot of people wouldn’t count me in that.” He shrugged. “So thanks.” 

 

Jamie grunted. 

 

When Jordie provided a distraction by flopping down on the other end of the couch a few minutes later Jamie fled into his room. Jordie started after him.

 

“What did you do to make Chubbs have feelings?” 

 

“Thanked him for nailing Fisher.” 

 

Jordie nodded to himself. “That’d do it. He doesn’t like being noticed.” He met Tyler’s grin. “I know, I also see the issue with his logic.”  

  
  
  


So Tyler hadn’t exactly been tracking his return to Boston but even if he’d been completely ignoring it the media would have made it impossible to forget. The still hovering PR team were pretty careful with who they let him speak to and the beat reporters had been glared at by someone who had the power to revoke their press passes so no one had been too pushy. So instead they’d been subtle while still basically asking to him whether he thought Boston was planning to tar and feather him the moment he entered the city limits. 

 

Boston wasn’t exactly friendly to start with and seeing as Tyler had left town and then flipped the Bruins the bird on his way out he wasn’t expecting it to go well. Obviously, he didn’t tell the media that and blathered on with something meaningless about how it’d be good to see the city and his old teammates again while every member of the press scrum looked back at him blandly. 

  
  


**_Seguin Returns to Boston_ **

 

_ We as a species slow down at car crashes, not to help, but because we just can’t help but want to see what’s happening. We pretend to cover our eyes in the horror movie but there we are, peeking out from between our fingers.  _

 

_ Tuesday night a few weeks into a season is the kind of home game when many season seat holders might choose to stay at home and while the numbers people would get to claim a sold-out crowd everyone can see the empty seats. I don’t think that will be the case this Tuesday when Dallas comes to town.  _

 

_ I think my analogy of the car crash will be a good one, I can’t see that game ending without a few injuries, someone placing the blame and the possibility of an explosion.  _

 

_ Tyler Seguin will return for his first game in a city which literally burned him in effigy during a tailgate party before the first home game. He will return to a city which is already hard enough for returning players to face, let alone one who called the entire management group homophobes and accused them of running him out of town.  _

 

_ If I were Seguin I’d be coming down with a nasty bout of ‘I don’t care what you say put me on IR before I actually end up there’ and staying in Texas.  _

  
  
  


“There’s a couple of blogs that are in fine form.” Brownie began rather than greet him as the skype window loaded. 

 

“Anything good?” Tyler grinned and kicked his feet up onto the coffee table. Brownie waggled a hand at him in a so, so gesture. 

 

“Apparently you should go on IR rather than come to Boston.” Tyler rolled his eyes and waited for Brownie to go on, you could always tell when Brownie had more to say, worst poker face ever. “You were burned in effigy though. How has no one sent me photos of a straw version of you up in flames?”

 

“I bet it was wearing my jersey.” Tyler grinned back. 

 

“No bet, too obvious.” Brownie leaned back in his seat. “How’s it going in the land of Texas? They treating my boy right?” 

 

“Team’s pretty cool, no one seems to be too worried that I want their dick. Rous keeps using me as an excuse to punch people in the face and my captain is as awkward as fuck.” 

 

“You have always been an excellent excuse to punch people. I have been kicking so much ass in your name, man.” Brownie paused for a moment to acknowledge Tyler flipping him off. “Captain awkward about you?” 

 

Tyler grimaced. “Seriously Brownie, I’m not sure. I got kind of adopted by his brother and they share an apartment so we hang but then sometimes he shuts the fuck down but he’s also like the least socially functional person I’ve met so it could just be him you know?” He paused for a second. “It’s not like he doesn’t stick up for me on the ice. He nailed Fisher for me.” 

 

“So he was the dude who separated Fishers’ shoulder, well done. I’ll send a gift basket. I assume he was being a dick.” 

 

“Usual shit.” Tyler shrugged again and grimaced. “I’d almost prefer if it was me just so I’d know.” 

 

Brownie frowned for a second and then shook his head. “Oh, back on Benn again.” He narrowed his eyes. “Tyler, you’re not doing anything stupid are you?” 

 

Tyler scrunched up his face and looked embarrassed. Brownie looked like he wanted to smack him around the back of the head and then hug him. 

 

“You really know how to make life hard for yourself.”  

  
  
  


Tyler could drive himself on the energy from any crowd, which was lucky because the only thing the Boston crowd weren’t doing was throwing cans at him. He could see one or two supportive signs in the mass but as he stepped out of the tunnel onto the familiar ice an incredible hissing boo echoed around the rink. Tyler lifted his stick in acknowledgement for a long moment and then stopped looking at them. 

 

He’d spent the last week talking about this game and unless it went uneventfully he was going to spend the next week talking about it too and he’d rather get that over with. 

 

“How’s being back?” Jamie asked as Tyler settled on the bench next to him. 

 

“Weird and a bit shitty.” He shrugged as much as he could in equipment.

 

“You catching up with anyone after the game?” 

 

“I’ll barely have time to say hello with the amount of media I’ve got scheduled.” He grimaced. “And it’s a bit awkward after everything, especially because I still can’t be sure of who told management.” He wagged his hand back and forth. “It’s not the worst thing that I don’t have time.” 

 

Jamie was frowning at him like he was concentrating but Jim tapped Tyler on the top of the head and that dropped from his mind as he went over the boards. 

  
  
  


It wasn’t a great game but it wasn’t a shitty one either, though the crowd did not appreciate it that the two shootout goals went to him and Rich. The good part of the SO victory was it wasn’t as interesting a narrative for the media guys and he actually got to escape a bit early. 

 

He’d been telling the truth about how little time he’d have after media, they were heading straight to the plane to make the most of the two-day break. He’d thought some of the younger guys might have stuck around to say hi though, maybe Marchy, but when he finally got out into the corridor after washing off his game stink there wasn’t anyone around. He shrugged, figuring it was a while to wait to only get a few minutes. 

 

“Jamie told them to leave.” Jordie detached himself from the shadow he’d been dramatically waiting in. 

 

“What are you? Batman?” Tyler replied. “Jamie told who to leave?”

 

“A couple of the Bruins, Marchand, Hamilton.” 

 

Tyler blinked. “Did he say why?”

 

“Nope. Was pretty cryptic. He looked pissed though. But like normal pissed, not on-ice pissed.”  

 

It was an important distinction, Jamie put on beast mode on the ice but off the ice, he got cold and flat when he was actually angry. Tyler frowned. 

 

“Do you know what the hell he was thinking?” Tyler was actually a bit pissed, Jamie didn’t get to dictate who he spoke to. 

 

Jordie shrugged. “No idea, he’s usually ‘leave it on the ice’ with other players, you’ve seen him after games before. Do you think this could be about Boston?” He caught Tyler with his eyes and he knew what he was really asking was ‘Do you think this could be about you?’

 

Tyler thought for a moment, lost and confused until it came to him. 

 

“I told him I wasn’t seeing anyone after the game but that I wasn’t too bummed ‘cause it was always a little awkward wondering who was the one who told management about me.” 

 

Jordie winced and then frowned.

 

“Someone on the team told management? That’s how they found out?” 

 

Tyler felt his eyebrows creep up a little. “I suppose you wouldn’t know. Yeah, someone saw a guy leaving my hotel room on the road. We had the whole floor, so it had to be someone from the team. I never figured out who.”  

 

Jordie rocked back on his heels. “That must have felt like shit. And I’m sorry for my brother being a dick but we both know him well enough to say he thought he was helping.” 

 

Tyler sighed. “Maybe next time tell him to chill out on the helping.” 

 

“Will do,” Jordie said. “Maybe talk to him about the Bruins? I don’t want him getting too serious about this.” 

 

“You’re actually inviting me to talk to your brother about feelings?” Tyler grinned. 

 

“Well, he was an overbearing asshole, so consider it part of his punishment.”

  
  
  


Jordie obviously spoke to Jamie and while he hadn’t exactly apologised he’d looked like a kicked dog for a week, if still just slightly mutinous. 

 

Tyler hadn’t actually wanted to have a conversation with Jamie about the Bruins, he was punishing himself almost as much just trying to keep Jamie in the room as soon as he figured out what the conversation was about but Tyler did actually want to see some of the Boston guys again and having his captain trying to chase them off every time wasn’t very welcoming. 

 

He ended up cornering him on a flight, sitting on the aisle seat next to him rather than joining the card game as he usually would. Jamie looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, fiddling with his headphones and not looking at him. Tyler realised how much more he knew Jamie now, a month ago he would have assumed Jamie’s shiftiness meant he didn’t want to be near Tyler. Now he knew that Jamie was just allergic to feelings and was hoping Tyler and this conversation would go away if he didn’t look at them. 

 

“So, thanks for trying to help.” 

 

Jamie was pretending, badly, to not know what he was talking about. Tyler really had to get him to play poker for money sometime. 

 

“Not necessary, but like, a nice thought.” 

 

Jamie was giving him a shifty side eye now. 

 

“You don’t have to protect me from the Bruins.” Tyler paused. “Unless it’s on the ice and then feel free ‘cause I’d forgotten how much of an asshole Marchy is to play against.” 

 

“I wasn’t protecting you, I just told them you wouldn’t have time like you told me,” Jamie said stubbornly. Tyler sighed out a breath and turned more in his seat until he was completely facing Jamie. 

 

“You can play dense, you are pretty good at it.” He flicked his eyes to Jamie’s face hoping to get him to crack a little but he was just looking mulish. “But we both know you sent them away because I said it made me awkward and you’re a good friend and a good captain.”

 

“One of them told management you were gay.” And thank god, now at least they were in the same conversation. 

 

“Yep,” Tyler answered nonchalantly. Jamie’s face creased. “But I’m never going to know who and I had some great times with those guys, I had some good friends on the Bruins.” He stared at Jamie until he met his eyes. “I made the choice to be pissed at management for what they did with the info, not the guy who told them.” He knocked his hand against Jamie’s. “But still, you know, thanks for the effort.” 

 

Jamie lifted his hand and bumped his fist back, the closest he was going to get to an acknowledgement. The silence stretched. Tyler clapped his hands down on the armrests and pushed himself up. 

 

“I’m going to go join the card game, wanna come?” 

 

Jamie smiled but waggled his tablet and turned back to the now gnarled mass of his headphones. 

 

Tyler stepped into the aisle and headed towards the card players in the front of the plane. Two-thirds of the way down Jordie caught his hand and stopped him. 

 

“All good?” 

 

“Yeah, he pretended we weren’t having an actual emotional conversation but he got it.” 

 

“He cares about you,” Jordie said quietly, looking seriously up at him. 

 

Tyler smiled softly. “Yeah, he’s a good friend. You both are.” He grinned. “I suppose your parents had to get something right in the rest of your dysfunction.” 

 

Jordie sighed sharply and shook his head. “Go play cards Tyler.”  

  
  


**_Seguin’s First 41_ **

 

_ As we come to the end of the first half of the season it is a good time to check in with Dallas’ new star acquisition and controversy.  _

 

_ So far this season the Stars have done an excellent job of sheltering Seguin from the media, carefully curating his interviews and press scrums in a masterclass of PR. Off the ice Seguin has been a quiet but steadfast advocate for gay sportspeople while also participating in every non-threatening activity the Stars’ publicists could throw him at. In this, Seguin has shined, showing a natural friendliness and openness which has already endeared him to the people of Dallas.   _

 

_ On the ice, Seguin has also thrived, scoring twenty-one goals in the first forty-one games of the season as well as also racking up an additional twenty assists to put him at above a point a game pace.  _

 

_ Instead of crashing and burning like some of his detractors has suggested, Seguin has gone from strength to strength here in Dallas. Maybe it’s his age, maybe it’s the change in scenery, or just maybe you can skate better once you remove the monkey from your back.  _

 

_ Tyler Seguin seems to be making it his mission to prove Boston and his detractors wrong and so far, he is doing a fantastic job of it.  _

  
  


Being called to the GM’s office always felt a lot like being called to the principal’s office. Even though Tyler knew that the meeting was just for Jim to check in halfway through the season, he still felt antsy. Maybe that said something about the kind of interaction he’d had with authority as a teenager. 

 

No matter the cause, Jamie nearly choked him with his own banana during breakfast while Jordie fell into completely over the top hysterics, just because he was a little twitchy. They kicked him out and told him to drive himself or he was going to send them crazy, so he blasted the Coldplay album Jordie hated and found himself lurking outside Jim’s office nearly ten minutes early. 

 

Jim’s PA took pity on him and looked down at her computer. “He’s not busy, you can go in now if you want.” 

 

Tyler could have kissed her, sitting and waiting was only going to remind him more of being thirteen and dragged to the Principal for cutting class. 

 

“Tyler.” Jim’s voice was welcoming as he looked up from his computer. “Take a seat.” He opened a folder from his desk as Tyler settled himself into a chair. 

 

“So what do you think of Dallas?” Now Tyler had gone from feeling like he was in the Principal’s office to feeling like he’s meeting his date’s dad. There was a weird urge to call him ‘sir’.

 

“It’s a good city and obviously the team’s pretty great.” 

 

Jim sat back in the chair. “It really is, but what do you think about it Tyler?” 

 

Fuck. Well okay. “I’m happy here. It was a good move. It’s a good city and I’m playing well.” 

 

Jim nods. “We agree. You have been everything we hoped for.” He placed his elbows carefully on the desk and clasped his hands in front of him. “After the trade, there were obviously elements here who weren’t sure how this was going to work out and an even larger group who were expecting we would trade you again within two years.” Tyler’s stomach knotted. “But you have obviously exceeded all expectations, both on and off the ice. We wanted you to understand now that so long as you are committed to the long-term here in Dallas that we are committed to having you here.” 

 

He met Tyler’s gaze levelly, Tyler who was blinking a little dumbly at him. “Uh, thank you. I’d love to stay here in Dallas.” 

 

“And we’ll love to have you.”

 

Other things were said and Tyler had probably even answered them and said things of his own but everything after that was a blur. He woke up properly as Jim leaned forward and offered his hand. He reached over the desk and shook Tyler’s hand and then Tyler found himself standing back out in the corridor, still not entirely sure what had just happened to him. 

  
  
  


“Did everything go alright with Jim?” Apparently, Tyler still looked a little shocky because this was the first thing Jordie asked as Tyler walked into the kitchen. Jamie jerked up from where he had been leaning on his elbows on the bench. 

 

Tyler held a hand up soothingly, but still a little unfocused. 

 

“No, it’s all good. He wanted to tell me how happy they were with me and tell me that they were planning on keeping me.” 

 

Jordie’s face broke out in a grin and he leaned over and offered his fist for a bump. 

 

“That’s awesome! Congratulations Tyler, you’re stuck with us now.” 

 

Jamie held his hand out quietly, but he was grinning. The fist bump turned into the stupid handshake a couple of the rookies had created on a very long flight which ended with their hands clasped.

 

“I’m glad.” His hand was big and warm and just slightly rough in almost the same places Tyler’s was. He wanted to hold it until he knew every difference. He didn’t let go, and neither did Jamie. They just stood there, smiling at each other as Tyler’s heart raced. 

 

And then suddenly the moment was over, Jamie blushed a near instant red and shuffled back to his side of the bench. Tyler sat down on a stool and waited for his heart to ease and Jordie looked like he wanted to strangle the both of them. 

  
  
  


The next week was a bit awkward, Tyler didn’t know what to do with the knowledge of how nice it felt to hold Jamie’s hand like a fucking grade schooler, Jamie was avoiding him and Jordie looked done with the both of them. And all of this warred with the memory that would pop up every so often of Jim saying ‘we are committed to having you’.

 

The awkwardness didn’t stop him from sacking out on their couch and bugging Jordie for food though. As much as he loved dogs he needed people as well and takeout on his couch was depressing. 

 

Luckily Jordie was still feeding him, if with a bit of a pointed stare that Tyler couldn’t understand.

 

Tyler came back from putting their empty dishes in the kitchen because he was a good guest and his mother raised him right. There’d obviously been a coup for the remote while he was gone because the golf highlights had disappeared and been replaced with one of the HGTV shows Jordie was strangely fond of. 

 

“You couldn’t hold him off for the two minutes I was in the kitchen?” He asked Jamie, taking the other half of the couch.

 

“I cooked freeloader, what did you add to this household today?” Jordie sniped, not taking his eyes off someone ripping down a wall. 

 

“My dashing good looks and personality.” Was Tyler’s immediate reply. He looked over to Jamie, expecting to meet a smile, chirping Jordie for his renovation obsession was a favourite pastime but instead, Jamie was blushing and not meeting his eyes. Tyler frowned at him, confused. 

 

Jordie recognised the pause in conversation, then the cause and huffed out a long frustrated breath. He stood up abruptly, drawing both of their attention to him. 

 

“Look, this was funny at first, and second...and third…” Jordie trailed off for a moment. “But I’m over it now. The two of you are fucking oblivious and it’s getting annoying.” 

 

“Tyler.” He said, turning towards him. “Jamie is gay. I’m not sure how you’ve missed those hints but you are dense as shit.” Jamie turned white in the corner of his vision. “And he thinks you’re pretty awesome, make the fucking connection.” He turned abruptly to his shell-shocked brother. 

 

“Chubbs, Tyler’s into you. He’s been a great guy in not making me talk about it with him but it’s obvious as hell.” 

 

He looked between the both of them.

 

“I’m going to Rous’s. I’m sick of being in the middle of this. Sort your shit out.” 

 

He collected his keys and wallet in the ensuing silence and let the door bang shut behind him. 

 

Tyler stared at the space Jordie had just been in and then at the now empty hallway. He blinked. 

 

He could hear Jamie’s feet shuffling on the mat and could see his hands twisting in his lap out of the corner of his eye. 

 

Tyler opened his mouth but only managed to say. “Um.”

 

Jamie’s head twitched towards him a little and then his eyes went straight back to his lap. Tyler could almost hear him freaking out. 

 

Tyler licked his lips and tried again. “He was right.” Jamie finally looked up. Tyler shrugged. “About me at least.” Jamie’s eyes flicked to Tyler’s lips and then back to his lap. Tyler smiled. He shifted a little closer to Jamie until their legs were touching. 

 

“So, I’m going to trust Jordie knows what he’s talking about.” 

 

Jamie shrugged, his shoulders brushing against Tyler’s. There was a long silence. 

 

“So, I’m going to need something from you here because I’m one step away from writing you a note that says “Do you like me? Check Yes or No.”

 

Jamie bit his lip and blushed. Tyler couldn’t help but be charmed. 

 

“Yes.” He said, looking up and finally holding Tyler’s eyes. “I’d check yes.” 

 

Tyler grinned at him, wide and joyful, then he grabbed Jamie around the back of the neck and reeled him in. He startled for a moment and then softened under Tyler’s kiss. The kiss was abrupt but anything but frantic. Jamie’s mouth was so soft against his own and they kissed like that, long and soft until Tyler had to pull back for breath. 

 

“We should have been doing this for so long.” Tyler groaned, falling back against the couch to work out the crick in his neck from the angle. 

 

“You’re presuming a lot, thinking that I’ve been pining for you for ages,” Jamie replied with a smirk, his voice obviously back with his confidence. 

 

Tyler elbowed him. “We’ve both been pining asshole, it’s why your brother just did the next closest thing to locking us in a closet.” He touched Jamie’s face softly with a smile. “Still, it worked out all right in the end.” 

 

Jamie’s face twisted with a smile that was as much amused as fond. “That’s basically your life motto isn’t it?”

 

Tyler thought about Boston and outing and Dallas and nodded. 

 

“It’s been working for me so far.” 

  
  
  



End file.
